Ask AP: Importance of housing starts, honeybees (AP)
<p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personalfinance/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081121/ap_on_bi_ge/ask_ap"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20081121/capt.a3a7aeb0b0884b8e97551f65f194e743.ask_ap_ask102.jpg?x=94&y=130&q=85&sig=b1guKaA_xZrRu2txvNYlhg--" align="left" height="130" width="94" alt="In this Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007 file photo, Professor Emeritus Robbin Thorp holds a specimen of a Franklin's bumblebee queen in his office at the University of California Davis bee biology department in Davis, Calif. A reader-submitted question about bees is being answered as part of an Associated Press Q&A column called 'Ask AP'. (AP Photo/Steve Yeater)" border="0" /></a>AP - American farmers have long worried about the declining population of honeybees, a key crop pollinator. But honeybees originally came from Europe, so can't U.S. farms get by without them — with a little help from good old American bugs whose ancestors were here before Columbus?</p><br clear="all"/>
FHA-Backed Loans: The New Subprime (BusinessWeek Online)
BusinessWeek Online - As if they haven't done enough damage. Thousands of subprime mortgage lenders and brokers -- many of them the very sorts of firms that helped create the current financial crisis -- are going strong. Their new strategy: taking advantage of a long-standing federal program designed to encourage homeownership by insuring mortgages for buyers of modest means.
'Help' Can Be Costly (BusinessWeek Online)
BusinessWeek Online - The implosion of the subprime mortgage market has been a boon to loan-modification consultants who promise to help borrowers refinance and get back on the road to financial stability.
Your Life Insurance Policy May Not Be Protected (BusinessWeek Online)
BusinessWeek Online - With the financial system in crisis, investors increasingly rely on government guarantees to protect their money. Bank accounts are backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and its $53 billion war chest. After decades on their own, money market funds now are backed by the U.S. Treasury. And life insurance policies and annuities? They're backed by state guaranty associations. There's only one hitch: The states have virtually no cash on hand and must rely on promises to pay made by healthy life insurers.
UK home repossessions up 12 pct in 3Q from 2Q (AP)
AP - Home repossessions in Britain jumped 12 percent to 11,300 in the third quarter from the previous quarter, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said Friday, more evidence that the financial crisis is taking its toll on households and the ailing housing market.


with the passage of the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005. Starting July 16, 2006, the new rules go into affect and they are a bear. The biggest issue is you now must pay 20 percent of your offer amount to even have the settlement offer considered!

The procedure now works as follows. To file an offer in compromise, you must prepare and file Form 656. This form essentially lays out your assets, income, debt amount and the offer you are making given these figures. You must pay $150 when submitting the bill. You must also now pay 20 percent of your offer amount. Neither of these amounts is refundable.

It may take the IRS up to two years to get around to making a decision. If the agency accepts your offer, it will send you acknowledgement and the terms thereof. If the agency does not accept the offer, it keeps your deposit and comes after you. Welcome to the wonderful world of taxes!

There are two exceptions to the 20 percent deposit rule. If you are a low income taxpayer under IRS rules, you need not make the deposit. Further, if you are contesting the taxes due because you believe there has been an error and you are not reasonably responsible for them, you need not file the deposit. Keep in mind the reason must be reasonable, not one of the arguments that nobody has to ever pay taxes.

The new procedures for filing for tax debt settlement are odd given the new 20 percent deposit amount. However, this still represents the best way for dealing with tax debts.

Article Source: http://www.Article-Warehouse.com

Richard A. Chapo is with BusinessTaxRecovery.com - providing tax information.

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